Potomac Watch: You may never hear a color-coded terror alert again

Published 10:00 pm, Friday, May 13, 2005

WASHINGTON -- Long the butt of jokes by late-night TV comedians and even members of Congress, the government's color-coded terrorist warning system is about to get an overhaul.

Legislation advancing on Capitol Hill -- and set to be passed by the House next week -- would direct the Homeland Security Department to scrap the current color-coded warning system in favor of one that provides specific directions and regional warning information.

Meanwhile, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff has launched a review of the way officials communicate warnings to police and the public.

Under the current Homeland Security Advisory System, law enforcement operations in the Midwest, for instance, are forced to ramp up their operations when specific threats have been made in New York, Washington, D.C., or other cities. The much-mocked five-color alert system does not provide specific guidance to the public.

The warning system is tiered to indicate the severity of threats and ranges from a low risk of attack (green) to a severe risk (red). In between are three categories: guarded, or general risk (blue), elevated, or significant risk (yellow) and high (orange).

The United States has been at code yellow or higher since the system was established March 11, 2002, under a presidential directive. The threat level has been raised to orange six times.

Critics such as Rep. Christopher Cox, R-Calif., who heads the House Homeland Security Committee and is the sponsor of the legislation that would spur changes to the system, say it is too vague and does not provide average Americans and first responders with enough information about how they should respond.

"What truly was unacceptable a few years ago was an orange alert announced nationwide, indiscriminately," Cox said. That kind of broad-based threat announcement causes "dead-weight economic loss," he added.

The general threat warnings spurred police departments and first responders nationwide to ramp up their operations, incurring high costs for overtime and other expenses.

In 2003, the U.S. Conference of Mayors found that cities were spending an average of $70 million more each week on homeland security measures during periods of heightened alert.

The expenses can range from overtime pay for first responders to the cost of increased security screenings. According to a report by the non-partisan Congressional Research Service, random car searches at Atlanta's Hartsfield Airport cost about $180,000 a month.

The added costs are fine when the threat is nationwide, Harman said. But, she added, an all-out national response may not be needed "if the threat is truly local."

In response to criticism from lawmakers and first responders, the Homeland Security Department is trying to add more information to its alerts, Cox said.

For instance, when officials raised the warning level last August to orange, the upgrade was tied specifically to New Jersey, New York and Washington, D.C.

Homeland Security officials also took pains to characterize the sector that was threatened. In that case, the federal government believed attacks were possible against financial institutions, such as banks and the New York Stock Exchange.

"When this information is provided, there is increasing care taken to make sure people can use it," Cox said. "If the average person can't do anything specific in response," the information is not helpful.

Chertoff also has launched what he has termed a "comprehensive" review of his department's structure, including the advisory system.

Chertoff told a House committee in April that after three years of experience with the color-coded system, "it's a good time to take a second look."

To make sure the Homeland Security Department takes that second look, lawmakers are set to pass Cox's bill, which would force changes to the advisory system. The bill also would require officials to add information about "appropriate protective measures and countermeasures" to threat advisories.

And, where possible, the department would limit advisories to specific regions and economic sectors believed to be at risk.

The bill also would bar Homeland Security from issuing advisories that use only colors.

Cox said this is consistent with the way the department is already heading. "The department is on the right track," he said. This just helps get the department there faster, he added.